Faculty Publications

Women and Mass Consumer Society in Postwar France examines the emergence of a citizen consumer role for women during postwar modernization and reconstruction in France, integrating the history of economic modernization with that of women and the family. This role both celebrated the power of the woman consumer and created a gendered form of citizenship that did not disrupt the sexual hierarchy of home, polity, and marketplace. Redefining needs and renegotiating concepts of taste, value, and thrift, women and their families drove mass consumer society through their demands and purchases at the same time that their very need to consume came to define them.

In 1925 Leonard Rhinelander, the youngest son of a wealthy New York society family, sued to end his marriage to Alice Jones, a former domestic servant and the daughter of a “colored” cabman. After being married only one month, Rhinelander pressed for the dissolution of his marriage on the grounds that his wife had lied to him about her racial background. The subsequent marital annulment trial became a massive public spectacle, not only in New York but across the nation—despite the fact that the state had never outlawed interracial marriage.

Elizabeth Smith-Pryor makes extensive use of trial transcripts, in addition to contemporary newspaper coverage and archival sources, to explore why Leonard Rhinelander was allowed his day in court. She moves fluidly between legal history, a day-by-day narrative of the trial itself, and analyses of the trial’s place in the culture of the 1920s North to show how notions of race, property, and the law were—and are—inextricably intertwined.

Historians have long assumed that ethnic and racial divisions in post-Civil War America were reflected in the U.S. Army, of whose enlistees 40 percent were foreign-born. Now Kevin Adams shows that the frontier army was characterized by a "Victorian class divide" that overshadowed ethnic prejudices.

Class and Race in the Frontier Army marks the first application of recent research on class, race, and ethnicity to the social and cultural history of military life on the western frontier. Adams draws on a wealth of military records and soldiers' diaries and letters to reconstruct everyday army life--from work and leisure to consumption, intellectual pursuits, and political activity--and shows that an inflexible class barrier stood between officers and enlisted men.

The Urban Roots of Democracy and Political Violence in Zimbabwe details a democratic tradition developed in the 1940s and 1950s, and a movement that would fall victim to an increasingly elitist and divisive political culture by the 1960s. Providing biographical sketches of key personalities within the genealogy of nationalist politics, Timothy Scarnecchia weaves an intricate narrative that traces the trajectories of earlier democratic traditions in Zimbabwe, including women's political movements, township organizations, and trade unions. This work suggests that intense rivalries for control of the nationalist leadership after 1960, the "sell-out" politics of that period, and Cold War funding for rival groups contributed to a unique political impasse, ultimately resulting in the largely autocratic and violent political state today. The author further proposes that this recourse to political violence, "top-down" nationalism, and the abandonment of urban democratic traditions are all hallmarks of a particular type of nationalism equally unsustainable in Zimbabwe then as it is now.

U.S.-China relations became increasingly important and complex in the twentieth century. While economic, political, and military interactions all grew over time, the most dramatic expansion took place in educational exchange, turning it into the strongest tie between the two nations. By the end of the 1940s, tens of thousands of Chinese and American students and scholars had crisscrossed the Pacific, leaving indelible marks on both societies. Although all exchange programs were terminated during the Cold War, the two nations reemerged as top partners within a decade after the reestablishment of diplomatic relations.

Collected over a period of four years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, these reminiscences from people in rural Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee are primarily concerned with lessons learned. Looking back on their youth, the narrators explore how the Depression defined their lives and their experiences, from subsistence and government assistance, to food and home life, fear and privation. Revealing a common consciousness among people who witnessed profound change and endured, these stories underscore the meaning of collective memory. Their simple tales form the larger story of how the American people continued to rely on the individualistic ethos even as they adopted and accepted the new ideology of social cooperation. Students and scholars of both the 1930s and oral history methodology will welcome this volume.

Though Satchel Paige lived into the early 1980s, much of our information about his life and especially his career is the stuff of anecdote. He is nevertheless a central figure-arguably the central figure--in our reconstructions of Negro Leagues history. This collection of papers from the 9th Annual Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference focuses on the celebrity of Satchel Paige and the team he is most closely associated with, the Kansas City Monarchs. Accounts of Paige's exploits are scrutinized and the effects of his fame, on both the contemporary perception of black baseball and its depiction in the years since, are discussed.

Founded in 1920, the Negro National League originally comprised teams throughout the Midwest, but the league’s groundwork was laid in one city—Chicago. Two of the season’s eight inaugural teams were based in the South Side, which was also the adopted home of Rube Foster, the “Father of the Negro Leagues.” A former stand-out pitcher in the Windy City, Foster founded the dominant Chicago American Giants. As the first president of the Negro National League, Foster controlled all major aspects of the game, from personnel to equipment and ticket sales, and his influence left black baseball indelibly associated with Chicago. This essay collection presents notable papers delivered at the 2005 Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference in Chicago. With contributions from many Negro Leagues experts, the work offers a cohesive history of Chicago's long relationship with black baseball.

Regardless of his conservative commitments, Taft saw the need for responsible reform. In the immediate postwar years, he recognized the need for federal aid to education, for social welfare legislation that assisted the poor, and for federal support for public housing. Out of political necessity, Taft became more partisan as the 1950 senatorial campaign approached, convinced he had to win reelection in Ohio by a large margin if he was to establish himself as a frontrunner in the primary campaign for the 1952 presidential election. Moderate Republicans spurned Taft and doubted that the serious, partisan senator could successfully head a national ticket. His support, nevertheless, was essential to the 1952 Eisenhower presidential campaign. Taft’s service as Senate majority leader proved indispensable to President Eisenhower during the early months of his first term, helping the president navigate the byways of the nation’s capital. Even after his diagnosis of cancer in April 1953, he continued to work at his senatorial duties until he died in July 1953.

In examining the life of former Senator Robert A. Taft, this volume illuminates not only the history of the conservative opposition to liberal internationalism in the 1940s, but tells us much about the contest over America's proper place in the global economy. Through careful research, Wunderlin offers a fresh look at one of the most important Republican Party congressional leaders of the twentieth century.

Analyzing the previously unexplored religious views of the Nazi elite, Richard Steigmann-Gall argues against the consensus that Nazism as a whole was either unrelated to Christianity or actively opposed to it. He demonstrates that many participants in the Nazi movement believed that the contours of their ideology were based on a Christian understanding of Germany’s ills and their cure. A program usually regarded as secular in inspiration - the creation of a racialist ‘people’s community’ embracing antisemitism, antiliberalism and anti-Marxism - was, for these Nazis, conceived in explicitly Christian terms. His examination centers on the concept of ‘positive Christianity,’ a religion espoused by many members of the party leadership. He also explores the struggle the ‘positive Christians’ waged with the party’s paganists - those who rejected Christianity in toto as foreign and corrupting - and demonstrates that this was not just a conflict over religion, but over the very meaning of Nazi ideology itself.

Only two states can claim the title “the Mother of U.S. Presidents”—Ohio and Virginia. Fifteen presidents have hailed from either Ohio or Virginia, though one of those men, William Henry Harrison, is attributed to both states. The other seven men from Ohio who have piloted the United States from the White House are Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Warren G. Harding. Drawing on recent scholarship, the essays place each president squarely in the context of his time.

The Negro Leagues had some of the best talent in the game, but from their earliest days they were segregated from those leagues that received all the recognition. This complete history of the Negro Leagues begins with the second half of the nineteenth century, discussing the early attempts by African American players to be allowed to play with white teammates, and progressing through the creation of the "Gentleman’s Agreement" in the 1890s which kept baseball segregated. It then discusses the establishment of the first successful Negro League in 1920 and examines various aspects of the game for the players (lodgings, travel accommodations, families, off-season jobs, play and life in Latin America, difficulties encountered because of race). The history ends in 1960, when the Birmingham Black Barons went out of business and took the Negro Leagues with them. Also included are stories of individual players, owners, umpires, and others involved with the Negro Leagues in the United States and in Latin America.

River of Enterprise explores the world of merchants in the Ohio River valley and the way commerce
underlay the development of a regional identity, before the politics of slavery split the region in two, north and south of the river.

During the spring and summer of 1935, popular memory has told us, swing was born when Benny Goodman and his band won the approval of the audience at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles after a grueling tour that began in New York City.

Challenging traditional interpretations of the roles of royal women in patriarchal Muscovite society, Between God and Tsar opens a new approach to understanding medieval Russia. Drawing upon a wide range of sources in anthropology, sociology, art history, and literature, it sheds light on the lives of the tsaritsy, about which little has been known, and on the culture surrounding them. This pioneering study demonstrates that the wives of the early tsars played complex roles in government, especially during times of crisis, and shows how religious culture perpetuated the expressions of their legitimacy as female rulers. Thyrêt explores Orthodox iconography—such as that of the Golden Palace of the Tsaritsy, which proclaims Irina Godunova's right to act as an independent ruler—and shows how the Muscovite court used gendered images to reveal the spiritual power of female rulers. Myths and legends adapted from one generation to another also underscore royal wives' claim to authority based on their great spiritual power. Illuminating medieval Russia's art, literature, and culture. Between God and Tsar offers stimulating insights into the power of Russia's royal women and how it was manifest in Muscovite culture.

Informed by the latest scholarship and expanded to consider the entire scope of U.S-Indian relations in the nineteenth century, the second edition of Professor Weeks's engaging and popular book provides essential reading for anyone interested in American Indian history.

The sixteen essays included in this book represent historical examinations done by Chinese scholars in the United States on the postwar Taiwan. The economic take-off, political reform, and cultural and educational development in Taiwan after World War II , and its relations with mainland China and the United States were all shaped by the Cold War. The Cold War, while presenting Taiwan with a great challenge, provided the island opportunities for the recovery and development after World War II. The successful modernization of Taiwan was made possible by its government and people who took full advantage of the favorable conditions created during the Cold War years. This book helps enhance our understanding of the postwar development of Taiwan and the multifaceted impact of the Cold War.

Image, Perception, and the Making of U.S.-China Relations examines major events in the history of the relationship between the U.S. and China to show the development and effects of national images and perceptions. These essays expose the effects of ideology as represented through foreign policy and the actions of leaders, as well as the role of the media and governments in shaping public opinion and attitudes. They show the evolution of the influential forces from the nineteenth century through the twentieth century.

This essay collection presents a new examination and fresh insight into Sino-American relations from the end of World War II to the 1960s. The compilation breaks new ground by exploring some of the untouched Chinese and Soviet Communist sources to document the major events and crises in East Asia. It also identifies a new pattern of confrontations between China and America during the Cold War. Based on extensive multi-archival research utilizing recently-released records, the authors move the study away from the usual Soviet-American rivalry and instead focus on the relatively unknown area of communists' interactions and conflicts in order to answer questions such as why Beijing sent troops to Korea, what role China played in the Vietnam War, and why Mao caused crises in the Taiwan Straits. The articles in the book examine Chinese perceptions and positions, and discuss the nature and goals of China's foreign policy and its impact on Sino-American relations during this crucial period.

As a history of family life in the squatter settlements of Rio de Janeiro from the 1940s to the 1960s, this study shatters the myth of household disorganization said to be the norm among the urban poor. Using quantitative evidence, field reports by social workers, newspaper accounts, and the recollections of the squatters themselves, the study dissects household structure, economic activity, living standards, and political participation among the one million favelados (squatters) living in Rio by 1960, singling out three favelas for comparative analysis. Favelados prized family life, and most succeeded in holding their households together against daunting odds. Shantytowns provided residence close to the workplace, and some were erected literally in the shadow of the construction projects where the squatters worked. As squatters became an important part of the city work force, they mobilized to put pressure on the authorities to provide collective services like water and electricity.

Diane Kunz author of Butter and Guns-America's Cold War Economic Diplomacy:
An impressive study of the causes, course, and the consequences of the Iranian oil seizure. Using primary and secondary sources in an exemplary fashion, Heiss has explicated the strategic and diplomatic aspects of a complicated triangular balancing act.

An anthology for courses dealing with great power diplomacy in the 19th century, this book raises crucial questions in the history of European foreign relations and seeks to address those questions through excerpts from the documentary record. Included are sources from conference protocol, and treaties as well as from previously untapped sources such as speeches, diary entries, and correspondence. Half the documents included have been translated into English for the first time. Each chapter is introduced by a brief paragraph placing that chapter in a larger historical context. Each document, or group of documents, comes with a head note that introduces the reader to the debates that document has generated and provides a point of departure for discussion or independent research. The text includes maps and concludes with a bibliographical essay that discusses issues of historiography and provides an extensive list for further readings.

Established in 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) performed its assigned mission exceedingly well as it secured peace for its member states and avoided military confrontation between the superpowers during the remaining four decades of the Cold War. But with the dramatic changes that began in 1989, an identity crisis has plagued NATO. Whereas the Cold War years had essentially defined who would be fighting whom in a future conflict, the uncertain post-1989 years are introducing new and possibly calamitous variables. Despite the fact that hardly a voice has been heard calling for its dissolution and that states from the former Warsaw Pact are seeking membership, NATO's members face the demanding task of defining the new strategic challenges and formulating appropriate policies and responses. The articles in this volume combine to present a comprehensive investigation of the diverse problems confronting NATO. The contributions each provide relevant historical background before analyzing current conditions and projecting into the future.

Established in 1935 under the aegis of the Works Progress Administration, the Federal Music Project (FMP) was designed to employ musicians who were hard hit by the economic devastation of the Great Depression. All of This Music Belongs to the Nation is the first book-length study of the FMP and the many paradoxes and conflicts that marked its four-year existence.

An examination of the historical debate over US labour relations and the expansion of government agencies that provided the basis for the labour system. The study argues that bodies set up to stabilize industrial relations often acted at the expense of important business interests.

Popular music may be viewed as primary documents of society, and America's Musical Pulse documents the American experience as recorded in popular sound. Whether jazz, blues, swing, country, or rock, the music, the impulse behind it, and the reaction to it reveal the attitudes of an era or generation. Always a major preoccupation of students, music is often ignored by teaching professionals, who might profitably channel this interest to further understandings of American social history and such diverse fields as sociology, political science, literature, communications, and business as well as music. In this interdisciplinary collection, scholars, educators, and writers from a variety of fields and perspectives relate topics concerning twentieth-century popular music to issues of politics, class, economics, race, gender, and the social context. The focus throughout is to place music in societal perspective and encourage investigation of the complex issues behind the popular tunes, rhythms, and lyrics.

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